323

Million KWh's

Sold over $1.58 billion (p. F-20) worth of wind blades in 2020, which accounted for 95% of total sales

50.75%

Increase

TPIC’s wind blades produced from 2016 to 2020 have the potential to reduce more than 1.2 billion metric tons of CO2 over their average 20-year life span, equivalent to more than 200 million homes’ electricity use for one year

16.26%

Reduction

19.68% CAGR between 2016 and 2020 in the energy generation capacity from the wind blade sets that TIPC produced

View Our Analysis

The Path to Drawdown: Wind Manufacturing

Solving climate change and remaining below 1.5ºC of global temperature increase requires that the world switch to generating power from fossil fuels to using 100% emissions free sources. Wind power will play a crucial role in this transition.

Onshore and offshore wind turbines accounted for 4.36% and 0.27%, respectively, of global electricity generation in 2018. This global wind capacity has risen steadily by ~20% per year for the past decade. Owing to this expansion, the cost of electricity generated from wind continues to fall, even in areas with low wind speeds.

According to Project Drawdown, being on a path to remain under 1.5C° of warming, onshore wind turbines will need to be generating 26.85% and offshore wind generating 3.2% of global electricity by 2050.

To get there, the wind industry will need to continue to scale over the next few decades

  • <::marker> 1,212 TWh of onshore wind electricity generated in 2018
  • <::marker> 21,715 TWh needed by 2050
  • <::marker> CAGR of 9.44% from 2018 - 2050 


The IEA also projects (p. 198) that reaching a 100% clean electricity grid by 2050 would require wind capacity to increase from 737 GW in 2020 to 3101 GW in 2030, and finally to 8265 GW in 2050.

What We Want to See Improve

Aim for Zero Emissions, Not Carbon Neutral

We applaud the fact that TIPC has set a clear goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. But carbon neutral isn’t good enough in a world that urgently needs to be on a path to zero emissions. Rather than simply canceling out emissions with avoided emissions, we want to see TIPC commit to eliminating GHG emissions altogether.

Report Scope 3 Emissions

TIPC has taken positive steps by starting to issue ESG Reports and publishing its GHG emissions since 2019. Yet their reports only include scope 1 and 2 emissions. With their world-wide production facilities and supply chain, we want to see them systematically measure and report their scope 3 emissions so that investors can comprehensively assess their trajectory toward net-zero emissions.

Eliminate Fossil Fuel Consumption

The avenue to reducing emissions is to eliminate fossil fuel consumption in the production and transportation processes. Since they started reporting their energy consumption metrics in 2019, TIPC’s use of fossil fuels and non-renewable electricity have been on a combined 28.9% rise. On the other hand, only 12.7% of TIPC’s total energy consumption comes from renewable electricity. We urge them to work toward replacing all of their non-renewable energy usage with renewable sources as soon as possible.

Related Wind Energy Stocks in the Climate Index

View All Climate Index Stocks →

Allocated Company Description

0.09%

TPI Composites, Inc (TPIC)

TPIC is the largest US-based independent manufacture of composite blades for wind turbines, an important supplier helping the expansion of wind power

0.03%

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (IEA)

IEA builds solar projects and wind turbines throughout the United States. They help expand renewable energy capacity for a zero-emission energy system

0.02%

Broadwind Energy (BWEN)

Broadwind makes equipment, component, and towers for making wind turbines. Wind energy is one of the cornerstones of a decarbonized future

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